'Street of balconies' comes to light in Pompeii

17/05/2018

New dig uncovers garden, frescoed cupid in original colours

Pompeii, May 17 - Archaeologists have uncovered a
'street of balconies' during excavations at a previously
unexplored area of Pompeii.
Here parapets and floor tiles bear witness to four projecting
balconies that withstood the devastating eruption of Vesuvius in
79 AD, which buried the ancient Roman city in a thick layer of
volcanic rock and ash.
Archaeologists have also found clay amphorae for wine still
lying on their side after being placed in the sun to dry.
"For Pompeii conservation of the upper storey is a rarity",
director Massimo Osanna told ANSA.
Consequently, the balconies will be restored and included in
a new itinerary linking the Street of Nola with the Street of
the Silver Wedding, he added.
In addition to the balconies, the site has also delivered up
frescoes, vases, oil lamps and other treasures on a daily basis.
Some 10 m from the balconied houses workmen have just
finished freeing up the top part of a wall in what appears to be
a pleasant middle-class residence, where a pink-skinned cupid
wearing a sea-blue drape can be seen against a wine-red
background.
The figure carries a full bucket of water and its presence
might suggest that there are other, more intricate decorations
on the as-yet uncovered lower section of wall.
On the other side of the street another residence with a
square garden is coming to light that was having work done to it
at the time of the eruption.
"It was in all likelihood renovation work after the
devastating earthquake of 62 AD," Osanna said.
An archaeobotanist who is working alongside the team of 40
diggers is studying the remains of the garden to establish what
was grown there.
She has poured plaster into the empty spaces left by the
roots using the same technique that was employed to make the
moving casts of the victims.
"The idea for now is that it was a vegetable garden
surrounded by bushes and trees, possibly fruit trees," she said.
The new excavations over 1,400 sqm in the Regio V have the
primary aim of shoring up 2.6 km of walls that are at risk of
collapse, and work is expected to continue for months.
And now archaeologists can count on new technologies that
were not available even ten years ago.
These include aerial drone photography, laser scanners and
micro cameras that can be used to explore underground cavities.